10 killed in Austrian school shooting: A rare event for the country

Yahoo

a day ago

10 people, including teenagers, were killed after a shooter opened fire at a high school in Austria on Tuesday. The shooting was one of the worst in the country's history.
According to CNN, at first Austrian police said eight people were killed and then the number was raised to nine. Gerhard Karner, the country's interior minister, said that six of the victims were female and three were male. The victims also included children between 14 and 18 years old.
Later in the day the Graz Regional Hospital said that a woman who was wounded in the attack died of her injuries, per NBC.
There were 12 students also injured in the shooting, some of them seriously.
During a press conference following the shooting, Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker described Tuesday as a 'dark day in the history of our country.'
'There are no words to express the pain, disbelief and grief felt by the whole of Austria. Our country stands still in this moment of horror,' Stocker added.
The country of Austria will be holding a period of mourning over the next three days to pay respect to the victims. A minute of silence will be held on Wednesday and the flag will be flown at half-staff at all public buildings, per The Washington Post.
The incident occurred at the Bundesoberstufenrealgymnasium Dreierschützengasse school in Graz, Austria's second largest city.
Police first responded to reports of 'several' suspected gunshots at the school around 10 a.m. local time. Several vehicles, ambulance, a police helicopter and a special task force were deployed to the scene, per NBC.
Over 300 police officers were sent to the scene to ensure an evacuation and cordon off the school.
The injured students were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment, per The Washington Post.
The lone suspect in the shooting was identified as a 21-year-old Austrian male who had previously attended the school but did not graduate. He carried out the killing spree using a rifle and a handgun before fatally shooting himself in a bathroom, per CNN.
'According to the current state of the investigation, the alleged perpetrator committed suicide in a toilet facility,' said Gerald Ortner, director of the police for the state of Styria.
Officials did not give a motive for the gunman, but they did share that he acted alone and they believe he obtained the weapons legally.
Austria has a low prevalence of gun violence and school shootings are uncommon, per The Washington Post.
Not including Tuesday's attack, Austria has had two public mass shootings since 2000, neither of which occurred at a school. The U.S. has had 119 in the same time period.
According to The Washington Post, the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government defines a public mass shooting as those that take place 'in a public or populated location' in which at least four people were killed and some victims 'were targeted at random and/or for their symbolic value.'
The country's most recent mass shooting was in 2020, when a man killed four people in Vienna, before being fatally shot by police. Credit for the attack was claimed by The Islamic State.